Whew! It's Summer Break

Wow. Not quite sure where the last ten months went.

I've updated my creative team links here on the page. Since my last post, I've added Chelle's Creations and ForeverJoy Designs to my teams. Also, I'm excited that I was selected to be part of The Scrap Nerds store creative team. It's been fun working with a store launch and have been busy discovering brand new to me designers and making a lot of layouts. I finished off 2012 and have all my layouts in my scrapbook. That was a major digi accomplishment. My yearly number of layouts created has almost tripled as I've become more involved in the digi-scrap community. I'm still designing layouts for Little Rad Trio and Dream Big Designs. And have been working with Amber Shaw on Facebook marketing and that's been keeping me busy.

If you are on Facebook, I invite you to my new Enjoy Your Pix page.

I plan on being back soon. There are big things happening with all my designers this summer!!

Back to School -- Thank Goodness?

Sweet Dreams by Amber Shaw at Scrap Orchard

Whew ... just a few more days until school begins. In some ways I want summer to continue, yet I look forward to the kids heading back to school. Actually, they are upstairs quiet right now, so I change my mind. I don't want school to start. Part of me wants to rewind 14-16 years to the snuggle-y delicious days of babyhood. The days of playgroup and anticipation of which preschool we would attend. Now the realities of SAT tests, GPA, and possible colleges looms on my horizon. Do you think maybe I can go hide under my blankie???

I've had a few productive scrapping pages and have been happy with how the pages have turned out. It definitely helps to have great kits to inspire me.

Sweet Dreams by Fiddle Dee Dee at Scrap Orchard

First up is Amber Shaw's Sweet Dreams. It is sweet indeed. In fact, I think the little fuzzy bear and cute sheep gave me a bit of a cavity. New now to Scrap Orchard, Amber teamed up with the talented Cheryl of Fiddle Dee Dee and we have divine coordinating templates!! The blendy masks are perfect for big pictures or even blending your papers. The templates were soooo easy to use and I had a coordinated lush page in a fraction of the time it would normally take.

Layout by enjoyyourpix using
Sweet Dreams by Amber Shaw and template by Fiddle Dee Dee

Dream Big Designs New Discoveries

I loved the templates so much that I had another play with them and used New Discoveries from Dream Big Designs to scrap some old school pictures of my son's hero day when he was in second grade. Cheri's little light bulb was the perfect match for my pint sized Thomas Edison.

Dream Big Designs New Discoveries Graffiti

 










Don't forget the graffiti packs! I love how Cheri has the graffiti bits and pieces separate so I can customize my page and shadows. There is a bundle in the market for your shopping convenience. :)

Layout by enjoyyourpix using
Dream Big Designs New Discoveries Bundle and
Fiddle Dee Dee Sweet Dreams templates

Little Rad Trio's Run in Circles Template

If you missed the news earlier this summer, Little Rad Trio is now selling at Gingerscraps in addition to MScraps. It's been fun getting to know the new community. There sure is a lot going on there. One of these days, I'll get my act together and try their book club!

This week, Jennifer is releasing some new templates aptly named, Run in Circles. I love the look of circles on my pages, but I really have a hard time with circular pictures. These templates are a great solution. As I was looking through my pictures, I stumbled across this picture of my dog. My dogs are rarely out front so it was fun to grab this picture of my furry friend pondering the world outside our house. I used the lovely Afternoon with Grandma kit.

Layout by enjoyyourpix using
Little Rad Trio's Run in Circles templates and Afternoon with Grandma kit

That's it for now. I'm heading upstairs now to give "advice" to my daughter about what to wear to the freshman dance. By advice, I mean answering whatever question I am asked with my opinion and then being told why I'm wrong. I *know* I'm just a sounding board and it's her way of talking things through to reach her own decision, but man oh man, I am quickly understanding the semi-dazed look on my parents' face as I breezed in and out of the room during my high school years. Parenthood  truly is a marathon!

I guess I don't really want to rewind all those years and start over again. I think maybe just scrapping some more baby pictures and school pictures will be a nice way to reflect on their growth and how far they have come since those innocent, angelic baby days. With the first day of school just a few days from now, I think my dear sweet Golden Retriever shows it best. She's ready to walk into the sun, tail up, ready to meet the great big world. I pray my two not so babies go forth and conquer their new year. And while I'm at it, I'll say a prayer for all the other mommies out there. xoxo

Happy Independence Day Weekend

I love summer. The hot weather and laid back attitude is just my style. Some of my best childhood memories are from the summer and I love the little snippets of those memories that wash over me when I walk across grass at night, or drive to the grocery store at 10:00 o'clock with the windows down. Oh! This makes me want to make so many pages to document those memories.

I have a few pages to share with you and some great digi news. First up ... Amber Shaw is moving to Scrap Orchard on August 1st.  I am over the moon thrilled for her and happy for me too. Scrap Orchard is my favorite store and my little digi-home. She has a ton of products she is retiring and they are marked down 70% until her Pickleberrypop shop closes. Don't miss out, there are some cute cute kits that are going away. SHOP HERE

Boom Boom Sparkle by Dream Big

Cheri at Dream Big Designs is on her final countdown. She has a sweet baby coming at the end of the month and in the meantime is turning out amazing kits left and right. I had a July baby once upon a time, and can totally empathize for how she must be feeling right now. That, I must say, is a huge disadvantage to summer. I think it's much easier to be pregnant when it's cold outside.

Her newest release Boom Sizzle Sparkle is full of great firework goodness. Perfect for Disney, Sea World,  baseball games, and of course the 4th of July. I decided to play with the journaling cards and InstaLife cards. I can never decide if I want the square or rectangle, so I'm delighted to see that Cheri includes both in her BUNDLE.

{Side note. If you want to print out the cards to use in hybrid projects, pocket scrapping,  or note cards, use the full bleed, untextured versions and send them to your favorite printer. They are untextured so you can pick your favorite paper texture. For my scrapbooking, I use the textured cards so I can mix and match them with my paper. If I wanted to do a more glossy, magazine, "flat" page, I'd use the untextured cards.}

For my page, I used a Scrapping with Liz template, the cards, word art, and little embellies. To keep the patterns small, I merged some of the cards together to give me a larger mat. As long as you make sure that you apply your shadow AFTER you have merged the cards, you should be good to go. I'm so happy that I now have this bundle in my stash, it will be used for many more pages in the future!!

April Madness using DBD's Boom Boom Sparkle

Jennifer at Little Rad Trio has also been busy. In addition to renovating her house and dealing with the aftermath of a storm that decided to strike just as the roof was removed, she has some new releases. This is for the MScraps monthly Memory Mixer where designers create papers and elements in the same color palette for easy mix and matching. The more purchase, the greater the discount is. Jennifer made an adorable kit called Simple Pleasures that highlights all those things that we love: our coffee, chocolate, books, pets, and just relaxing. The pinks, browns, and blues in the kit are very soothing as is the softly muted palette. I made my page to remember a lovely morning at one of my favorite local restaurant/coffee houses. It's always very busy and I wanted to make sure we grabbed a table overlooking the street, so I went a little early, had coffee, and digiscrapped until my friend arrived. It was such a nice day. It's always fun to drink your coffee out of a bowl!! LOL. Good thing I didn't spill.

I must disclose that I cannot believe that I forgot to use the graffiti on my page. I LOVE graffiti and paint!! What was I thinking??? Never fear though, I am currently revising my page for the Bring it Challenge over at Scrap Orchard. This month, you have to scrap on the diagonal. The new and improved page will be on my July Challenges board and will be on the diagonal with lots of this great graffiti.

Friends using Little Rad Trio's Simple Pleasures

Once I finish this post and then go outside to check the chemicals on my pool, I'm going to get started on my Iron Scrapper Week 1 layouts.  I completed my digi shopping and picked up the North bundle and some Fresh Fruit. I cannot wait to see what I make! I don't think I ever know what my page is going to look like before I start. You never know, it just might be an EPIC page!

See you later! :)

So much Scrapping Goodness

I have several fun pages to share with you this week! The designers have been super busy. It feels like every time I go online, there's a new kit! Now that school is out, I feel like I'm getting a handle on everything again!

I made a freebie for Dream Big Designs. It's on the Dream Big blog. Grab it soon, before the link expires. I made the card to go on a page in my kids' school albums. I hope you like it.

Amber Shaw teamed up with the dynamic duo Bella Gypsy. Their Wild Boy kit is awesome. Because I'm still trying to finish up the cheer trip to Disney in March (I have a free Shutterfly coupon that expires on Tuesday!), it was perfect for the parade at California Adventure.

 

Wild Boys by Amber Shaw and Bella Gypsy

It's also Pickle Barrel time again. Amber created a super fun Geocaching kit called Cache Me. Grab the elements, papers, and a coordinating template.

Dream Big Designs released super cute InstaLife and Journaling cards that coordinate with the Splash Zone kit. If you don't have the kit already, you really need to grab it. The orange and blues are fabulous for your summer pictures.

Splash Zone by Dream Big Designs

Little Rad Trio has been super busy as well. The move to MScraps is complete and Jennifer is quickly filling her store with new kits and templates. I made a page with her new template set Seven-Eight Don't Be Late. As for content, it's mainly the Way to Go kit with a little bit of Retirement thrown in. 

Little Rad Trio's 7 8 Don't Be Late and Way to Go

 This next kit is a newer release from Little Rad Trio. It's called Is the Grass Really Greener? Isn't that chevron paper awesome? If you are a lover of green and browns, you need to add this to your collection.

Little Rad Trio's Is the Grass Really Greener?

 I'm pretty sure I've mentioned this before, but I LOVE the challenges at Scrap Orchard. In particular, I love the MIS challenges. (Make it Snappy). This one was from last week. It was the template challenge where Fiddle Dee Dee donates a template and then everyone who participates gets a 40% off coupon. She is so generous and makes lovely templates too. I was super excited to use a new kit that I actually bought! This is Once Upon a Time by Megan Turnidge with a Fuss Free Freebie from Fiddle Dee Dee. One more page closer to finishing Disney!! Yippee!!!

Little Rad Trio Birthday and Last Day for Free with Purchase Template

Who doesn't love some fun birthday games? Jennifer of Little Rad Trio has a birthday this week and she's celebrating with a little scavenger hunt. Keep an eye on her Facebook page, she might have some other awesome things going on this week too!!

Follow the link in the image or scrapflower.com to visit her shop. Entries close on Thursday, May 30, at 8:00 am (CST). The winner will be announced on her blog by 5:00 pm (CST) Thursday night (May 30th). It's digiscrappingwithjen.wordpress.com in case I botched the link. Send your entry/answers to littleradtrio@gmail.com by Thursday May 30 at 8:00 am (CST).  All correct entries will be entered into a drawing for a $10 gift certificate to her store.

Today is the last day to pick up Little Rad Trio's One Two Buckle My Shoe {template} and receive Three Four Shut the Door for free. They are very versatile. I've used just one so far, but I am certain that more pages will be coming soon.

Using Boy Oh Boy and 1 2 Buckle My Shoe by Little Rad Trio

Little Rad Trio's Store is Open --- Check it Out!

LRT Way 2 Go

I wanted to share some of the new products of Little Rad Trio. It's Jennifer's grand opening at Scrapflower and her store is on sale. She has 3 new releases I will show you.

Way 2 Go is a great kit to highlight success. It has a slick black alpha and bold colors that can be used for sports or any time you want to give your subject a nice pat on the back.

For my page, I focused on my girl and her recent cheerleading tryouts. We spent a chunk of time learning how to make the huge cheer bows and I wanted to a page that really highlighted them. I love the black stripe paper and how easy it was to layer and stack the flowers in the kit.

Mustang Pride using Little Rad Trio's Way 2 Go

LRT Enjoying Retirement

I am many many years from retirement, but I do love Enjoying Retirement. The RV is adorable and it another great kit to build your stash. I love unpacking a kit and finding all the goodies. This one has some great treats. The trees, banners, and ribbons are fun!  I was inspired by the road and trees and made a photoless layout. My son is in Scouts and has a ton of camping and backpacking pictures. With page will be a great addition to his album. The John Denver song was very appropriate.

Take a Hike Using Little Rad Trio's Enjoying Retirement

Little Rad Trio - Doodle Birthday Alpha

Little Rad Trio is also participating in Scrapflower's Petal Picks. It's a build your own collection based on the same color palette. Jennifer created a Doodle Alpha collection. It's all priced separately at a super low price. Pick up your favorite parts now. Later it will be bundled and priced higher. Don't miss the Doodle Birthday Alpha set. It has 7 different multipurpose colors and Photoshop (and Elements) brushes.

I love the cupcakes and flowers in the kit! I will definitely be using this kit again. I think I'll whip up a couple birthday cards!

Little Rad Trio Doodle Birthday Elements

 LRT Doodle Birthday Paper {Pattern}

 

LRT Doodle Birthday Paper {Solids}

 

Birthday Cheesecake using Little Rad Trio's Doodle Birthday

LRT Single Shot Template

Oh, and here's the template I used. The Single Shot pack includes 2 templates that highlight one picture. And yes, the strawberry cheesecake above WAS as delicious as it looks. It's the one from Costco and we all love it! I just wish it wasn't so BIG! 


Have a great day and I'll be back tomorrow with some more new releases.

Sneaky Peak & New Designer

Hey there, hope you are having a great weekend! Mine is going well. Just been busy moving children from one activity to the next and trying to get the HUGE NEVERENDING spring clean up list done. UGH. So much work!!!  I have a a couple things to share with you today.

New kit coming soon
from Chelle's Creations

First, Chelle's Creations is sneak peaking and doing a give away for a new kit. I'm super excited because it looks perfect for the re-do of my son's baby book that I really want to finish. The image is linked to her blog so you can enter too. It's releasing on 5/3 so I'm really hoping that means it's coming to Scrap Orchard's Farmers Market. I truly have no idea, but a girl can dream, right?





Since I realized that I really can't just write a blog post  to increase my chance at winning a kit, I'll share some other great news! LOL. (Well, I guess I could just write about the contest ... but then that might turn cause my three readers to take me off their blog list!)

Brand new kit from brand new designer
Little Rad Trio at Scrapflower

The super nice Digiscrapping with Jen
has started designing! Keep an eye out for Little Rad Trio! She asked me to help her create some layouts with her products, so I'll be sharing some here. She has one kit in her market and three more coming later this week. The only page I've had a chance to make so far is for a new release next week, so I can't share yet! I will, FOR SURE be using this kit though. It will be perfect for my gazillion Scout pictures and there is even a video game controller, go kart, and bicycle in the kit. You can find her products at Scrapflower. Her jam-packed kit is on sale for about $3.00 (50% off). This is a GREAT deal and you will be able to make a ton of pages. She has add ons for a striped alpha and some very COOL embossed papers too. Please check her out!


Enjoy the rest of your weekend. The weather here is FABULOUS and I need to get up off the computer and ENJOY IT!! Bye for now! :)